20 Cops, Firefighters In Essex County Earn 2019 Valor Awards – Newark, NJ Patch

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — A group of 20 cops and firefighters will be honored for their bravery in the line of duty as part of the 200 Club of Essex County’s 53rd Anniversary Valor Awards.

“The job of a police officer or firefighter is tougher today than ever before,” said Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura, a member of the 200 Club’s board of trustees. “Law enforcement and firefighting are extremely hazardous professions which are performed at tremendous personal risk.”

The awards will be given out during a ceremony at Nanina’s In The Park in Belleville on May 9, 2019. New Jersey Lieutenant Governor Sheila Oliver will be the keynote speaker. Individual tickets for the awards luncheon are available for $75. For more information contact 973-694-4982.

Nominations for the 200 Club’s Valor Award are made by the chiefs of Essex County’s municipal fire and police departments and the commanding officers of federal, state and regional public safety agencies. Valor Award recipients are selected by The 200 Club’s Executive Committee.

Established in 1966, the 200 Club of Essex County has raised nearly $2 million to support the spouses of fallen officers and to fund scholarships for their children through membership dues and the annual luncheon.

This year’s individual Valor Award recipients include:

  • Irvington police detective Bilal Johnson, detective Tehran Young and officer Paul Noel for the arrest of an armed robbery suspect who had threatened to fire his weapon at the officers
  • Newark police officers Dexter Bright and William Essien who disrupted an armed robbery in progress and for the arrest of the suspect and his accomplice
  • Maplewood police sergeant James DeFazio and patrolman Robert Smith who entered a raging residential fire several times to rescue a blind adult male and an unconscious elderly female
  • Essex County sheriff’s detectives Abdullah Holmes and Ricardo Rickards, and Newark detective Emanuel Pereira for the arrest of a male suspect who was armed with multiple weapons
  • Orange fire captain Adonis Hannah and firefighters James Antoine and Kyree Silas for the rescue during a residential of male victim hanging from 3rd floor window ledge and another male victim trapped on the roof
  • Irvington fire captain Fernando DeLima and Lt. Carmine Martignetti rescued two members of their department who became disoriented when ran out of breathable air and suffered from intensive heat and heavy smoke conditions during a residential fire
  • Newark firefighter Valter Pires who rescued a severely distressed male who jumped from the Jackson Street Bridge and into the Passaic River
  • Newark firefighters Clarence Sims and Moises DeJesus who rescued an unconscious, elderly woman from a 3rd floor residential fire
  • Newark fire captain John Trainello and firefighter Reynard Gasavage III who rescued male and female victims and two kittens from a residential fire

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